Living Life Backwards

IF you want to live the next life backwards:

You start out dead and get that out of the way.
Then you wake up in an old age home feeling better every day.
Then you get kicked out for being too healthy.
Enjoy your retirement and collect your pension.
Then when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.
You work 40 years until you're too young to work.
You get ready for college: drink alcohol, party, and you're generally promiscuous.
Then you go to primary school, you become a kid, you play,
and you have no responsibilities.
Then you become a baby, and then ...
You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, in spa-likeconditions -
central heating, room service on tap, and then ...
You finish off as an orgasm...
I rest my case.

-anonymous

All Or Nothing At All

All, or nothing at all,
Half a love, never appealed to me.
If your heart never could yield to me ,
Then I rather have nothing at all.

All, or nothing at all,
If it's love, there is no in between,
why begin then cry for
something that might have been.
No, I'd rather have nothing at all

Please don't bring your lips
close to my cheek.
Don't smile or I'll be lost,
Beyond recall.

The kiss in your eyes,
the touch of your hand makes me weak,
and my heart may grow dizzy and fall
And if I fell under the spell of your call,
I would be caught in the undertow.
So you see I've got to say no.
All or nothing at all
All or nothing at all

- Jack Lawrence & Arthur Altman
(1930)

Lost

All alone
here in this dark cavern, cold..wet..damp..
Love doesn’t beat in here today,
just a hollow shell.
In this heart, bereft of hope, bereft of joy,
only woe murmurs the voices in the air,
whistling through the caverns of what once was,
a heart of bounty, a heart of joy..

Not a soul in sight,
even the departed stay away this night,
among their own, in realms of dark,
in realms of light..
The Lord of solitude mocks from inside,
an enemy faceless without form,
laughs at my plight, this dark, foreboding night.

Was she real, as this cloak of shadow
or a passing wisp of foggy imagination
enveloping me?
Not sensing her presence or feeling her touch again
stings like a whip snapping a gash,
searing a welt borne of the hottest coals of Hades,
deep upon fabric of my being,
into the recesses of my soul.

Will she , wont she..come back..
The nightingale in the distance sings a mournful lullabye,
tearful, mindful of my plight,
amidst the chorus of wolves howling in the distance.
Their cry in unison heralds the darkest hour of an
eternal moment of regret,

Is this an eternity of regret
To have missed her pass into my domain
Or a moment of infinite fear
of having lost her forever?

Peace

I was sitting in a space of tranquility at home, a little earlier, reminiscing an old past time at University some years ago...sitting beside a gently flowing river on a warm summers afternoon..all would be peaceful..calm..the world I am in now is so far away from that place..that time..

Sitting beside this river I would listen to the soft hum of dragon flies buzzing by coupled with the rustling of leaves on trees around..in harmony with the flow of water..never ending, moving. on and on...peaceful...the almighty sun shining onto me its golden light infusing my being with its heat, its passion, its awsome power...

That is an aspect of Nature and I believe that we all are part and parcel of the entire flow of nature, its ebbing and fowing and subsiding on and on and on forever.

Have you ever experienced this peace.. perhaps you have walked your dog on a trail somewhere or went fishing or rock climbing...you can almost feel at one with it all and then along with it comes this satisfaction of not wanting..needing anything..as all you have ever wanted..needed is all around you, with you.. and then you notice this awesome silence all around you ..within you and a stillness inside you signalling a gentle contentment with your life.

Fast forward a couple of years later and I find myself living amidst the hustle and bustle of a booming metropolis throbbing with the vibrancy of millions of hopes and dreams of people and people and more people, of machines and towers so far up, they touch the sky..

If you're a city boy or girl whatever your age, have you ever paused to notice the constant chatter or people around you, the incessant noises of this century- doorbells, cellphones, engines, music, on and on... surely this is nature too, man-made though it may be...

Have you ever wondered how mother nature accommodates us no matter how much we try to re-create a machinistic, artificial environment borne of our own vision of what a perfect world should be? Mother gives and gives, she doesnt complain, but tirelessly gives no matter how much we take from her. Why she even sends forth little shrubs in any available garden path or sidewalk not covered by stone or concrete..wind between the crowded alleyways, rainwater to cool the heat of vehicle engines or to wash away the toxic fumes of exhaust...evidence of Her unconditional love of giving, right before us and all around us...

How can anyone say there is no love in this world?

It is said that the answer to many of life's problems lie in going back to the natural order of things, accepting nature becoming part of it, less chatter..less noise...simplicity..peace..

How often do we try and turn down the radio or tv constantly on for background noise, just to sit or lie in the quiet of that particular moment? Silence does tend to make one somewhat uncomfortable and that is because we have lost touch with what it sounds like. The sound of silence is not just a sound in my opinion but an overwhelming surge of getting back to our roots..a state of tranquility which soothes the harshest migranes, the deepest heartbreak, the lowest disappointment...it takes you to a place of familiarity...it is something you know of..or knew..a place you have visited before..but where..when...you cant quite place it..yet..

Try it dear reader as I have, it is truly beautiful, it is almost like replenishing, re-invigorating something inside. The Mind with its neverending thinking..planning...lost in all our yesterdays and tomorrows..it could do with a break sometime...quiet time..my time..your time...shhh
Its never easy the first time, but it is worth the efffort..

I love this story:

One day Sheikh Nasruddin and his three friends decided to spend 3 days in silence and meditation. All four gentlemen sat in a circle in Nasruddin's house silently meditating or reading or praying and the hours of the first day passed by and soon it was nightime..the room was dark and the silence was so thick, you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly one of the friends had an idea and decided it would be easier to be quiet if there was some light in the room. So looking around he spotted a servant passing by in the corridor and gently whispered :
" Hey boy light the evening lamps for us all."
The boy responded "Sir I cannot hear you speak up."
The man said it louder this time around and then said " I cannot talk so dont ask me to repeat my self!"
The second man looked with irritation at the first man and said "You stupid donkey, cant you stay quiet like me???"
The third man then said "Will you two buffoons be quiet, I took an oath of silence, cant you follow it like I do?"

Finaly Nasruddin raised his hands upwards and said" Oh praise be to me, you weak-minded nincompoops, I am the only one who can keep silent!"

Till next time, let's spread a lot of love and a whole lot of peace..

Asian

I found this on Facebook, absolutely hilarious!!!


You know your Asian when:

* When you tell your parents you got 98%, and they ask you what happened to the other two percent.
* There is a sale on any item, you buy 100 of them.
* You make tea in a saucepan.
* You never buy bin bags, but use your saved grocery bags for it.
* You put your clothes in suitcases instead of wardrobes.
* You have a 'Singer Brother' sewing machine at home.
* Your mother has a minor disagreement with her sister and doesn't talk to her for ten years.
* You call an older person you've never met before "uncle".
* You hide everything from your parents.
* Your mother does everything for you if you are male.
* You do all the housework and cooking if you are female.
* Your relatives alone could populate a small city.
* Everyone is a family friend.
* Everyone always called you for help on homework.
* You study law, medicine or engineering at university.
* You were thick so you studied computer science or business instead.
* You know no one who has studied music.
* You went to a university as far away from home as possible.
* You still came back home to live with your parents after you had finished.
* Your best friend got married at the age of 18.
* You like the meat well done.* You eat onions with everything.
* You use chilli sauce instead of tomato ketchup.
* You fight over who pays the dinner bill.
* You say you hate Indian films/songs but secretly watch/hear them
* You avoid public places when with a member of the opposite sex, especially if there is an acquaintance within a 250 miles radius.
* You always say "open the light" instead of "turn the light on".
* You secure your baggage with a rope.
* You're walking out of customs with your trolley at the airport and you see all twenty-five members of your family who have come to pick you up.
* You get very upset when airlines refuse to accept your luggage which is just 80 lbs. overweight.
* You go back to your parents' country and people treat you like a member of the royal family.
* You ask your dad a simple question and he tells you story of how he had to walk miles barefoot just to get to school.
* Your Dad drives a Nissan.
* You're rich so he drives a Mercedes.
* You are ALWAYS taking off and putting on your shoes wherever you go
* When you were little you always wondered why your English friends waited until after breakfast to brush their teeth when you did it first thing in the morning
* To your English friends, oil is used purely for cooking and not as a grooming aid
* Your parents have nicknames but only because people they work with just stop when trying to read their names
* You have annoying nicknames like Chotu or Chicku
* Your parents call all your friends "Beta" (son/daughter)
* Your mother measures wealth in gold and diamonds
* Your parents drink 3 cups of tea a day
* Your parents compare you to all of their friends' kids.
* At least once a week your mom says, "I want to go to India/Pakistan"
* No one ever seems to call ahead of time to say they are coming over for a visit.
* Your parents worry what other people will think if you're not going to be a doctor/ engineer.
* You're parent's always say while shopping abroad, "It's cheaper in India/Pakistan"

I believe

Vintage Stevie..

Shattered dreams, worthless years,
Here am I encased inside a hollow shell
Life began, then was done,
Now I stare into a cold and empty well

The many sounds that meet our ears
the sights our eyes behold,
Will open up our merging hearts,
And feed our empty souls

I believe when I fall in love with
you it will be forever,
I believe when I fall in love this
time it will be forever

Without despair we will share,
And the joys of caring will not be replaced,
What has been must never end
And with the strength we have won't be erased
When the truths of love are planted firm,
They won't be hard to find,
And the words of love I speak to you
will echo in my mind

I believe when I fall in love with
you it will be forever,
I believe when I fall in love this
time it will be forever

-Stevie Wonder

Laila

Laila and the Khalifa

The Khalifa said to Laila. "Art thou really she
for whom Majnun has lost his head and went distracted?
Thou art not fairer than many other fair ones."

She replied, "Be silent; thou art not Majnun!"
If thou had Majnun's eyes,
The two worlds would be within thy view.Thou art in thy senses, but Majnun is beside himself.
In Love, to be wide awake is treason.
The more a man is awake, the more he sleeps (to love)."

The Mathnawi - Rumi

This is so true.
To be lost in the throes of love without a care for what lies ahead, whether your next step meets Earth or mere space..

I believe it is our natural impulse to love this way, freely, with wild abandon, not with fear but with faith. Alas however, we stumble onto nothing at times and we fall...and fall and get into the habit of falling and lose our faith somewhere down the line. So many of us have lost someone we wanted, needed in our lives and no matter how many prayers we sent up there, the die was cast in all its finality. Hence we stop believing that there is indeed someone for us with just the right something to compliment and fulfill our lives, and we grow cold, defensive, cycnical.. we attract others with a similar disposition into our lives and the drama re-plays itself further hardening our hearts..sometimes we attract good, loving people but cannot reach into the fiery depths we know we hold inside us, is it fear or lack of faith which holds us back perhaps..

But as one who has loved and fallen and loved and fallen again I believe that if I am capable of accessing and sharing something so deep within my own being, something so profound within the seat of my own heart, surely a reservoir of love exists inside me which allows me to draw from its waters yet again..perhaps the only obstacle holding me back is my own fear...could this ring true for you too or perhaps someone you know, dear reader?

Ancient fables like that of Laila and Majnu tell us of undying love, love which broke through all kind of barriers, tearing through the fabric of entire worlds..why even the Gods of yore have had to concede defeat.

Those people were no different from you or me, it may be that they had a little more faith in a higher power which would allow their dreams to come true..or it may be that they were a less cynical people living in a simpler world than we do now..

Maybe they were asleep to the world and awake to the source of love inside themselves as Rumi puts it and hence able to share it with a Divine compliment who could reciprocate in kind.

Like attracts like..

My Spiritual Teacher once told me that a painting composed of bright imaginatve vivid colours attracts instantly, dazzling all in its brilliance but a painting with subtler colours, painted with greater imagination, created with greater emotion attracts viewing again and again and again...that's how Love should be..for God..for another..for oneself...for the mystery never ceases and the discoveries are endless.

A dear friend of mine once shared a very profound fact of nature-

Love builds bridges across lifetimes.

It matters not the kind or the manner in which the love is conveyed or shared, it just IS and that is what heals all wounds,,a soothing balm for every trouble lodged within your soul..

With such depth of power hidden within the cave of our hearts, need we fear stumbling again? Stumbling onto the ground in a heap may hurt for a little while but as before we can get up, dust ourselves off reach into the cave again, replenishing ourselves with love for ourselves, for the world, with faith in ourselves, in the world and walk on with that proverbial song in our hearts and a wish on our lips...that's love too.

May we always love
May we always realise we are loved
May we always remain in the state of love

Kiss The Rain

Hello, can you hear me
Am I getting through to you
Hello, is it late there
There's a laughter on the line
Are you sure you're there alone'

Cause I'm, trying to explain
Something is wrong
You just don't sound the same

Why don't you, why don't you
Go outside, go outside

Kiss the rain,
whenever you need me
Kiss the rain, whenever I'm gone, too long
If your lips, feel lonely and thirsty
Kiss the rain, and wait for the dawn
Keep in mind, we're under the same sky
And the nights, as empty for me, as for you
If you feel, you can't wait till morning
Kiss the rain, kiss the rain, kiss the rain

Hello, do you miss me
I hear you say you do
But not the way I'm missing you
What's new, how's the weather
Is it stormy where you are
'Cause I'm so close but it feels like you're so far
Oh would it mean anything, if you knew
What I'm left imagining
In my mind, in my mind
Would you go, would you go
Kiss the rain

And you'd fall over me
Think of me, think of me,
think of me, only me
Kiss the rain

Whenever you need me, kiss the rain
Whenever I'm gone too long, if your lips
Feel lonely and thirsty, kiss the rain
And wait for the dawn
Keep in mind, we're under the same skies
And the nights, as empty for me, as for you
If you feel, you can't wait 'till morning
Kiss the rain, kiss the rain, kiss the rain

-Billy Myers